| The Devil's Cormorant: A Natural History Contributor(s): King, Richard J. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1611686997 ISBN-13: 9781611686999 Publisher: Foreedge OUR PRICE: $23.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Science | Life Sciences - Ecology - Science | Natural History - Nature | Birdwatching Guides |
| Dewey: 598.43 |
| Physical Information: 0.76" H x 6.03" W x 8.98" (1.31 lbs) 360 pages |
| Themes: - Topical - Ecology |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Behold the cormorant: silent, still, cruciform, and brooding; flashing, soaring, quick as a snake. Evolution has crafted the only creature on Earth that can migrate the length of a continent, dive and hunt deep underwater, perch comfortably on a branch or a wire, walk on land, climb up cliff faces, feed on thousands of different species, and live beside both fresh and salt water in a vast global range of temperatures and altitudes, often in close proximity to man. Long a symbol of gluttony, greed, bad luck, and evil, the cormorant has led a troubled existence in human history, myth, and literature. The birds have been prized as a source of mineral wealth in Peru, hunted to extinction in the Arctic, trained by the Japanese to catch fish, demonized by Milton in Paradise Lost, and reviled, despised, and exterminated by sport and commercial fishermen from Israel to Indianapolis, Toronto to Tierra del Fuego. In The Devil's Cormorant, Richard King takes us back in time and around the world to show us the history, nature, ecology, and economy of the world's most misunderstood waterfowl. |
Contributor Bio(s): King, Richard J.: - Richard J. King is visiting associate professor of maritime literature and history at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. For more than twenty years he has been sailing and teaching aboard tall ships in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He writes and illustrates a column on marine animals for Sea History magazine, edits the "Searchable Sea Literature" website, and was the founding series editor of Seafaring America. For more information, visit http: //www.richardjking.info/. |